English 015 - Americans Abroad
Stein’s Confidence While Abroad in Contrast to Brett’s Insecurities
Stein’s Confidence While Abroad in Contrast to Brett’s Insecurities
Category: 04B: Autobiography of ABT | Eric Robinson
Gertrude Stein in The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas seems to be a very confident woman when living abroad, having a high degree of personal courage that she clearly possesses. Her impressive confidence is further revealed in comparison to the emotions and actions of Brett in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.
Throughout Stein’s work, the reader sees her as being extremely comfortable and sure of herself in her foreign environment. Even in the face of criticism and political unrest, Stein still remains self-assured. Such an example can be found when the author is considering buying pieces of art, and one picture “infuriated the public” so much that “they tried to scratch it off the paint” (Stein, p. 34). However, Stein “liked that picture,” and despite all the negativity surrounding her, she boldly “said that she wanted to buy it” (Stein, p. 34). In this example, the author demonstrates her confidence by pursuing her own self-interest regardless of the opinions of others. At another occasion, before the outbreak of World War I, “Gertrude Stein, to divert everybody’s mind from the burning question of war or peace, introduced the subject of education,” (Stein, p. 151) again illustrating her high poise, in this case during an uncertain time in Europe.
Stein’s confidence while abroad is strengthened when contrasted with the multiple insecurities of Brett. Brett tends to drink heavily and sleep with many partners in order to try and prevent her problems from affecting her. However, when she is sober, she reveals her lack of self-assurance, such as when she says, “Me, with long hair. I’d look so like hell,” (Hemingway, p. 246) showing that she feels insecure about her physical looks. Brett also hints at her sexual anxieties after she leaves her fiancé and later decides she wants him back: “He’s so damn nice and he’s so awful. He’s my sort of thing,” (Hemingway, p. 247) a clear attraction to indecisiveness that displays her lack of confidence.
Posted by on October 14, 2003 at 01:51 PM